Tax service in eastern Virginia

Tax Scams/Fraud Alerts

As we receive information from the IRS, news reports, (and our own research), we'll post the information here.

Electronic Filing PIN Application was Recently the Target of an Automated Attack by Identity Thieves

Thieves used malware in an attempt to generate E-file PINs for stolen Social Security Numbers. IRS has notified 464,000 taxpayers of attempts to access but only 101,000 were used successfully. The IRS says personal taxpayer data was protected. The situation is being assessed by agency cybersecurity experts, and IRS is working on the matter in tandem with other agencies and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. For more details, visit https://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Statement-on-Efiling-PIN.

IRS Cautions against Phone Scams by Agent Impersonators

The IRS warned taxpayers again of continuing scams by criminals pretending to be agency personnel and using “aggressive and threatening phone calls” to get money from their targets.

There is a deluge of these phone scams, Commissioner John Koskinen said in a Feb. 2 news release, but people shouldn’t be fooled. “We continue to say if you are surprised to be hearing from us, then you’re not hearing from us,” he said.

The IRS always will mail a bill before calling, the news release said, and it will never call to demand immediate payment, ask for credit or debit card numbers on the phone, bar an opportunity to question or appeal what it says is owed or threaten to bring in law enforcement.

The phone tactics remain among the IRS’s annual “Dirty Dozen” list of scams, the agency said.

New Email Scam

Be on the lookout for the following message – it is NOT from the IRS, and is an attempt to steal, or “phish” your identity and banking information. If you come across it, the (real) IRS requests you to report it to phishing@irs.gov.